August 16 – Through Parma and onto Bologna

A Sunday (never an easy day to find much open in Italy) following August 15 (a huge summer holiday in Italy) was not the day to pick to move on… EASY to see in hindsight, I tell you.

First we ventured to Parma, (the apparent birthplace of Parmesan cheese) only to find the city virtually shut down with not a room to be had or a place to eat to be found open. Truly frustrated by our lack of foresight into this foreseeable dilemma, we climbed bravely back into the car and headed to Bologna (the apparent birthplace of Mortadella, or baloney as we’ve come to call it) reasoning that a bigger city might have more open. To our relief, not only was the tourist office open to help us, many of the sights were also open and surprisingly empty and, treats of all treats, our hotel had a swimming pool! Rescued from our own ineptness by a city who shares a name with a vile cold cut… truly a reason to sing, “hooray, for fried baloney.”